1.VJAS president Kishore Tiwari, who has unwittingly earned the reputation of being a spokesperson of this agrarian tragedy, echoes the same view. "The phenomenon has to be defined as rural crisis and not an agrarian crisis. For the debate to be more inclusive and the entire exercise to be corrective, we must address the larger issue of systemic failure," Mr Tiwari said. He pointed out that post-1991, rural India had undergone drastic changes in its socio-economic profile, which have added new dimensions to the crisis.

2। The state told the PMO that the number of suicides due to "agrarian reasons" had come down to 20 per month in 2007, from 60 per month in early 2006. But what the state did not tell the PMO is this: between January 1 and April 30, 2007, more than 400 suicides have taken place in six districts of Vidarbha, where the PMO is implementing a special rehabilitation package. By May 30, the suicide toll had touched 416, according to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which is meticulously recording every farm suicide in the region.